Dominican Winner In Doubt

May 20, 1986|By Mark Kurlansky, Special to The Tribune.

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC — Indelible magenta ink that was to prevent voting twice is at last fading from the index fingers of the citizenry. But they still do not know who won the presidential election.

Three days after the nationwide election, the Central Elections Board has stopped counting votes and there is no clear winner.

The election has become a standoff between two candidates--Jacobo Majluta of the ruling Dominican Revolutionary Party and Joaquin Balaguer, who was president for 12 years in the 1960s and 1970s.

Supporters of both candidates insist their man has won.

Calm is maintained by well-armed soldiers in combat gear stationed at regular intervals in the streets. The soldiers appear alert but relaxed. There were five deaths in pre-election violence and three more on election day Friday, but since then there has been more confusion than tension in the capital.

The electoral board suspended counting without explanation with less than 10 percent of the votes untabulated at 5 p.m. Sunday. They said they would resume at 8 a.m. Monday, but Monday`s only action was the resignation of two of the three board members.

Most observers believe Balaguer`s small but consistent lead will hold. In his downtown house, supporters, many holstering .45-caliber automatic pistols with elaborate handles, were embracing one another. Carrying arms is a common practice in the Dominican Republic, although it is illegal during the election period.

Early Sunday afternoon the crowd exploded in enthusiams as their small, frail, 78-year-old blind candidate emerged from his house.

The Majluta people seemed somber but did not concede defeat. Instead, Majluta announced: ``I won, nothing can take away the victory. First they will have to kill me.``

No evidence of fraud has been presented, although Majluta contends the election board is biased in Balaguer`s favor. Most observers have called the election honest.

While there is talk among Majluta supporters on the street of not accepting the electoral board`s decision if it goes against them, there is no plan of action.

``It is a democracy,`` said Virgilio, 27, in the brightly colored, wooden-shack neighborhood of Maria Axiliadora.

If Balaguer comes to power it will be only the second time in Dominican history that power has changed hands through a democratic election. The first was in 1978, when Balaguer lost but refused to step down until strong pressure was exerted by the Carter administration.

The last tally announced by the elections board, with 92 percent of the polling stations reporting, gave Balaguer 799,968 votes, or 40.04 percent, to Majluta`s 764,509 votes, or 38.26 percent.

But Majluta said his tallies showed him leading Balaguer of the conservative Social Christian Reform Party by 3,000 votes.